Sony Vaio Duo: One of the not-so-compelling designs? The apparatus to support the display is pretty ugly.
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PC designs have been lackluster, offering no good reason to upgrade, according to an Intel executive speaking at the company's Spring Analyst Summit in London.

Navin Shenoy, vice president and general manager of the Mobile Client Platform division, was responding to a question from an analyst when he said the following on Thursday:

We think the usage patterns aren't the driver for elongation [of the PC upgrade cycle]. It's more that we haven't had products in the marketplace that were compelling in any way to the existing product, either from a form factor point of view, a battery life point of view, a security point of view, a responsiveness point of view...now we have all of those things.

In the last six months or so, those products in the marketplace have been Windows 8 ultrabooks, tablets, convertibles, and detachables.

Shenoy did go on to say that "all the stuff I'm showing you [today] gives people that compelling reason to [upgrade]."

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That "stuff" Shenoy is talking about is based on Intel's upcoming 4th Generation Core Processor, aka, "Haswell," which will be officially rolled out in about ten days.

Haswell is expected to engender thinner, lighter Windows hybrid designs and tablets, in addition to an increasing number of touch-based laptops.

"Our research says that most people who own tablets continue to still use their PCs...85 percent or so. And, by the way, 85 percent say they intend to refresh their PC," Shenoy said, adding that touch displays are one of the new features that will drive upgrades.

About the author

Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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